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Journal of Bacteriology, March 2004, p. 1270-1279, Vol. 186, No. 5
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.5.1270-1279.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
The PhoP-PhoQ Two-Component Regulatory System of Photorhabdus luminescens Is Essential for Virulence in Insects
Sylviane Derzelle,1* Evelyne Turlin,1 Eric Duchaud,2 Sylvie Pages,3 Frank Kunst,2 Alain Givaudan,3 and Antoine Danchin1
Unité de Génétique des Génomes Bactériens,1
Laboratoire de Génomique des Microorganismes Pathogènes, Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris Cedex 15,2
Laboratoire EMIP, Université Montpellier II, IFR56, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (UMR 1133), 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France3
Received 11 September 2003/
Accepted 25 November 2003
Photorhabdus luminescens is a symbiont of entomopathogenic nematodes. Analysis of the genome sequence of this organism revealed a homologue of PhoP-PhoQ, a two-component system associated with virulence in intracellular bacterial pathogens. This organism was shown to respond to the availability of environmental magnesium. A mutant with a knockout mutation in the regulatory component of this system (phoP) had no obvious growth defect. It was, however, more motile and more sensitive to antimicrobial peptides than its wild-type parent. Remarkably, the mutation eliminated virulence in an insect model. No insect mortality was observed after injection of a large number of the phoP bacteria, while very small amounts of parental cells killed insect larvae in less than 48 h. At the molecular level, the PhoPQ system mediated Mg2+-dependent modifications in lipopolysaccharides and controlled a locus (pbgPE) required for incorporation of 4-aminoarabinose into lipid A. Mg2+-regulated gene expression of pbgP1 was absent in the mutant and was restored when phoPQ was complemented in trans. This finding highlights the essential role played by PhoPQ in the virulence of an entomopathogen.
* Corresponding author. Present address: INRA, Unité de Biochimie et Structure des Protéines, Domaine de Vilvert, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas Cedex, France. Phone: 33 (0)1 34 65 27 66. Fax: 33 (0)1 34 65 21 63. E-mail:
sderzell{at}jouy.inra.fr.
Journal of Bacteriology, March 2004, p. 1270-1279, Vol. 186, No. 5
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.5.1270-1279.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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